11/27/2012

Using assumptions based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) Assessment Reports, if the U.S. as a whole stopped
emitting all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions immediately, the
ultimate impact on projected global temperature rise would be a
reduction, or a “savings,” of approximately 0.08°C by the year 2050 and
0.17°C by the year 2100—amounts that are, for all intents and purposes,
negligible.

11/20/2012

After months of protesting a policy requiring high school students to wear an RFID-enabled ID badge around their necks at all times, Andrea Hernandez is being involuntarily withdrawn from John Jay High School in San Antonio.

Andrea, backed by her family, has claimed the policy violates her religious beliefs and unduly infringes on her privacy. The controversial ID badge includes
the photo and name of each student, a barcode tied to the student’s
social security number, as well as an RFID chip which pinpoints the
exact location of the individual student, including after hours and when
the student leaves campus.

In response to public outcry and pressure from rights groups, the school
offered to remove the battery and chip, but wouldn’t budge on
mandating the ID. Their offer required the Hernandez family to
end their criticism and agree to comply with and even tout the policy, something Andrea’s father Steve Hernandez finds unacceptable.

11/13/2012

Under the draft rules, ordinary homeowners may face six years in
prison and fines of $100,000 a day if they are deemed serial offenders
of such new crimes as allowing sprinklers to hit the pavement, washing a
car in the driveway, or, conceivably, failing to pick up dog poop
promptly from their own backyards, let alone the sidewalk.

The regulations will be enforced with the aid of a 24-hour telephone
snitch line which residents of San Diego, south Orange and southwest
Riverside counties can use to report on their neighbors for violating
the new code.